Is Our Hobby in Trouble???

[Hexnut72]

The EPA wants some tough new legislation concerning cars. They say if they can not get congress to go along, they will put it under the clean air act and make up their own rules. If you get a chance to listen to Lisa Jackson, the director of the EPA, talk you will soon find out that she is a psycho socialist when it comes to the environment. I got the impression that she wants everyone to ride a bike to work, school and play. We don't really need cars.

Obama wants to incorporate California's standards (and tougher restrictions) nation wide and announced new CAFE standards. If they make it through I think it will be the mid to late 1970's all over again as far as auto performance goes.

Things are going to get ugly for hotrods, streetrods, kit cars and muscle cars. Time to build a car if you haven't already and hope that it will get grandfathered in.

[petek]

Even California allows a (limited) number of exemptions every year.

[khansmith]

I don't have an issue with the higher standards for new cars under the current plan that was proposed by Obama. I think there is a lot of horsepower lurking in modern engines utilizing a myriad of techniques in tuning, engineering, etc. What I do have an issue with is a blanket policy that is applied to all automotive uses. Hobbyists like us are not creating a significant environmental impact and should be exempt. I don't even have an issue if they put a reasonable limit of milage per year a hobby car can be used in return for use of a more inefficient engine in the vehicle.
As for the EPA trying trump an effort to harmonize standards across the states; well, that just makes it even harder for the automakers to compete.

[priobe]

I think we will be fine.

We already have these cars and they are registered as vintage years

[Hexnut72]

Originally Posted by priobe

I think we will be fine.

We already have these cars and they are registered as vintage years

Some do not have cars yet....

[khansmith]

Originally Posted by Hexnut72

Some do not have cars yet....

This is why groups like SEMA are so important to all hobbyists. Write, call, scratch, yell, streak...uh...your congressperson's office.

[Historybuff]

I think the parameters you're talking about are mostly going to apply to new cars built some years from now --something like the year 2016, but it's worrying about their throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water attitude because the do-gooders can't stand to see anyone having fun . When they see a Cobra kit car with flames popping out of the sidepipes they will have a hissy fit, and try to outlaw them. There are thousands of car hobbyists in California who will move to Nevada or Arizona if their hot rods, kit cars, etc. are outlawed in California for emissions reasons but if the do-gooders get a national emissions law passed, then they will kill the car hobby in the U.S. for sure.

Don't these do-gooders realize most of these collector and hobby cars are only driven a few miles a week at best? What about the mega collectors who own 20 or so cars--some don't get around to driving all their cars for several years...

Originally Posted by Hexnut72

The EPA wants some tough new legislation concerning cars. They say if they can not get congress to go along, they will put it under the clean air act and make up their own rules. If you get a chance to listen to Lisa Jackson, the director of the EPA, talk you will soon find out that she is a psycho socialist when it comes to the environment. I got the impression that she wants everyone to ride a bike to work, school and play. We don't really need cars.

Obama wants to incorporate California's standards (and tougher restrictions) nation wide and announced new CAFE standards. If they make it through I think it will be the mid to late 1970's all over again as far as auto performance goes.

Things are going to get ugly for hotrods, streetrods, kit cars and muscle cars. Time to build a car if you haven't already and hope that it will get grandfathered in.

[REAL 1]

The CAFE standards are going to do nothing to help us. The are not going to result in lower gas prices. All its going to do is increase the cost of our cars and increase regulation and expense.

The CAFE standards in Europe are more stringent then here and their gas prices are higher then ours.

If we decrease our demand for gas and the oil companies and the Shieks are making less what do you think they are going to do? Drop prices? Uh, I don't think so. The numbskulls in the Administration and Government can't grasp this simple concept.

The environmental nut cases are going to control what we drive and in the end our expense on everything. They are a bunch of liberal socialists !@#$.

They are making the situation worse in my opinion.

BTW. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Obama loses his job.

[Yetiman]

In Wisconsin, as of last July (08') the state has stopped emissions testing on 2004 and older, testing OBD2 cars only as it's easy and cheap.
The reason ? Budget cuts. It costs too much money to test. Before that any cars 1968 and newer needed at least an initial test to get registered and than all cars under 20 years old needed annual testing.

(Note, emmissions testing was not state wide even by the old standards.Only the more heavily populated counties, about half the state required testing as it was too expensive to do state wide).

The high cost of enforcing higher standards might be the best thing we have going for the car hobby.

[HI Cobra]

Hawaii has no emissions testing and Texas only has it around Dallas
and Houston and it doesn't apply to Cobras (not mine anyway).

[rattlesnakepete]

The typical tactics of the lib's, to *****, piss, moan and misrepresent the facts is very distasteful to me. Unfortunately it is very effective. Until the opposition unites and adapts more effective measures of countering this BS we are caught in the whirlpool heading into the abyss. I do not see any Ronnie's on the horizon either.

On a more positive note Yetiman's avatar has got to be one of the most classy I have ever seen. I just love to look at it.

[priobe]

Originally Posted by Hexnut72

Some do not have cars yet....

Then use this as an excuse and hurry and get one before its too late.

[ROUSHAC]

Originally Posted by REAL 1

The CAFE standards are going to do nothing to help us. The are not going to result in lower gas prices. All its going to do is increase the cost of our cars and increase regulation and expense.

The CAFE standards in Europe are more stringent then here and their gas prices are higher then ours.

If we decrease our demand for gas and the oil companies and the Shieks are making less what do you think they are going to do? Drop prices? Uh, I don't think so. The numbskulls in the Administration and Government can't grasp this simple concept.

The environmental nut cases are going to control what we drive and in the end our expense on everything. They are a bunch of liberal socialists !@#$.

They are making the situation worse in my opinion.

BTW. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Obama loses his job.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with you Evan.

[Hexnut72]

I only use the CAFE standards as an example of the direction we are headed. In theory they do not directly apply to replicas, REAL ONE's or otherwise.

If the emissions rules go federal (I think technically they already are, but have not been enforced that way) then it is going to close the states rights to enforce them the way they see fit. No more exemptions, SBA 100 or what not.

I heard an interview on NPR with the EPA chick and she is truly scary. It's not just a matter of change to make life better, it is change to control peoples lives. She must have grown up in a city because she was talking like mass transit was a feasible option for everyone. For people like me that live in fly over country it is not.

I hate to sound like I think the sky is falling but I am a feared that it is. We are getting way more change than we need and way too fast. We need some slow and gentle course correction and we are getting full battle power and full right (or left?) rudder.

Oh, here is the link to the NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=103582546

There is a link on that page to listen to the interview in its entirety.

[jdean]

AND...don't think they will stop with the street driven cars. They want to impose regulations to include off-road vehicles (closed race tracks, off-roading etc.) So if they have their way there is no escape for any fuel-burning hobby. Look for NASCAR to be the first, it is already in their sights.

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by jdean

AND...don't think they will stop with the street driven cars. They want to impose regulations to include off-road vehicles (closed race tracks, off-roading etc.) So if they have their way there is no escape for any fuel-burning hobby. Look for NASCAR to be the first, it is already in their sights.

They already impose restrictions on off road vehicles in California. Those that think we don't have anything to worry about should be prepared. As an avid gun owner I know all to well how the libs work. They start small and then expand their agenda.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by REAL 1

If we decrease our demand for gas and the oil companies and the Shieks are making less what do you think they are going to do? Drop prices? Uh, I don't think so. The numbskulls in the Administration and Government can't grasp this simple concept.

Just recently demand for oil dropped because gas was became too expensive, selling for $4.00/gallon here in the SF Bay Area. Now when prices dropped back down to the low $2/gallon range, again here in the SF Bay Area, people started to drive more again. Now prices are back up to high $2/gallon range. So I think the oil producing countries think differently than your thought above.

A few months back, when oil was around $40/barrel, 60 Minutes interviewed the Saudi oil minister. I saw genuine fear in his face, since I think he said the breakeven point on a barrel of oil was in the $50-$55/range (I forget exactly). They need us users of oil to keep using, thus prices will be low when demand decreases. You gotta give the gas junkie their fix to keep them coming back for more.

In fact, he said Saudi Arabia was looking at developing, building and exporting other energy alternatives (wind, solar, etc.) as a hedge for the day when oil is no longer as highly demanded.

Now when there's only a few gas-operated cars left on the road, and one of them is Mad Maxx's, then I think the price of oil, at least to Humongous, will be very expensive.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Way too much money in the car hobby and the gun hobby to be restricted any more than it is now. These zealots have nothing better to do than pick on seamingly small interest groups. They'll yell and blow steam until the next battle arises, then they'll go on to that. There's more pollution in ONE shuttle launch than all the Cobras in America running all year. I think Obama's newly announced emmissions/restrictions will fail in congress because the auto companies cannot afford another setback.

[RodKnock]

Reckoning Day is coming...Daimler just bought a piece of Tesla, announced yesterday.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/19/news...n=money_latest

Also, the US will be introducing a trade-in program, similar to Germany's, in order to get all your gas-guzzling cars off the road.

Don't worry guys, the aftermarket will be full of companies competing to get your "battery replacement" business so that your Cobras will be running like tops (literally) well into the 22nd Century.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Now when there's only a few gas-operated cars left on the road, and one of them is Mad Maxx's, then I think the price of oil, at least to Humongous, will be very expensive.

And we'll be ready. Obviously Max had traction problems with his BFG's, too.